RCA/Thomson

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RCA / Thomson Electronics has the worst customer service!!!

Posted by orca on 04/04/2006

Last July, my wife & I purchased a 40" flat screen RCA television, on sale at the local K-Mart. After enjoying our new TV for about 2 weeks, it developed the annoying habit of turning itself off every 20 minutes or so. Of course, it was still under warranty so I contacted RCA to determine how to best get it repaired. Now, since we live in Islamorada in the Upper Florida Keys, I was told that I would have to bring the television to the nearest repair facility @ one hour away in South Miami. So... We had to rent a trailer, load up the television, & drop it off at Latta TV Repair.
It took the technicians there over 8 weeks to assess and repair the problem (replace the picture tube). So, in early October we re-rented the trailer and made the trek back up to Miami to pick it up. Less than 2 weeks later it began turning itself off @ every 20 minutes, again. Once more, we rented the trailer, drove the hour to the repair shop, and were told that since they already knew what the problem was it would be a “quick fix”.

4 weeks later (mid November)… Latta TV called me to tell me that the television could not be repaired, that they would send it back to RCA, and RCA would replace it. On December 7th I was contacted by an RCA / Thomson representative and informed that they would NOT replace the faulty television, but instead would issue a refund. They said I could expect a check in 6 – 8 weeks.

After 8 weeks (January 30th), I contacted RCA to determine the status of the refund and was told that the request was sent to accounts payable on the 27th, was in the final stages of processing, and that I could expect the check within 2 weeks. 2 weeks later (February 14th), I called again and was told that the request still hadn’t been processed and that someone would look into it and contact me.

Since then, I have called RCA at least once a week and have been told: “be patient…”, “the request may have been lost…”, “accounts payable is in another state, so there is no way to track the request…” etc….. Finally, on March 27th, 2006 “Kathleen” at RCA told me that a check would be expedited via fed Ex and I could expect it within 2 days. Well it's now 8 days later and Kathleen will not return my calls. I am sick of being lied to by RCA and am on the verge of legal action!

My wife & I both work full-time, 10 hours a day just to make ends meet. We haven’t been able to afford to replace the television, and are both getting extremely frustrated with RCA. Eight months ago we paid $850.00 + tax for a faulty television, we were only able to use for a few weeks. We would really like our money back, but we feel that RCA is giving us the run-around and has no intention of refunding us.

Dean H
Islamorada, Fl

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T.V. Sucks And Very Bad Customer Service - RCA HD44lPW62

Posted by HRP on 12/19/2008

REDDING, CALIF. USA, CALIFORNIA -- Well..December 20, 2005 We bought this TV Paid $1940.49 for it. Two and a half weeks later I noticed it had a white dot on the screen which means the beginning of the pixels being lost. Called where purchased and they were very rude and not helpful at all but after I complained severely, they exchanged it, we also had to drive 2 hrs to pick it up at their other "Target" store. Now remember this is number 2 and the date for having that one was January 13,2006. Doing great then on December 1,2006 the color lamp went out. Got the run around from RCA finally got them to send a tech out, he said the lamp will be here in two weeks. two weeks later it was done and that night it worked for 20min and stopped. Again I called RCA and same old thing. The tech came out again but this time he told me RCA was out of the lamp and it would take 3 to 4 months to get one. OH I GOT PISSED HELL NO! So I started to call RCA it was about 10 to 20 calls before they said the lamp will be in very soon. Now remember the date we are in the end of December 30,2006 at that time I also asks them, that we wanted to buy an extended warranty on it, Sandra who said she was a supervisor told me at this time we are not offering one for that T.V. I said Why? She would not answer. It's still not fixed. On January 11,2007 it was done and I was giving a warranty cost $199.00, at that time I asked the lady on the phone this will cover any thing that goes wrong with the T. V. right? She said yes Ma'am. That is not the end, On October 3,2008 the lamp went out again. So I did like I did before and got the same feed back but this time they told me that the warranty did not cover the lamp.

Oh I was sick and started to call again, meanwhile my husband said we need to pay for it up front so I don't miss the games, a guy thing LOL so I did it cost $241.31 which is more that that damn warranty is. I have been on the phone more than 8 times try to talk to someone that can help me and all I get from them is Oh I am so sorry ma'am. I finally said to them give me the # to Corporate Headquarters and talk with someone who has some senses. Their answer was sorry ma'am we don't have a # for them. I can go on and on about more that happened but the bottom line is RCA should not be building a product that only lasts half a year or maybe a year, when we pay so much for it. RCA was once a very well known name and the top of the line. I will never buy a RCA again and I will tell everybody who listens not to buy one and I have also called BBB and will be calling the federal trade commission.

Bottom line we want a full refund back from both. Does any body have the # for RCA corporate headquarters? Please help

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Lack Of Customer Service, Unable to Get Phone # to Reach Anyone in the USA

Posted by borden1 on 08/28/2008

EL PASO, TEXAS -- I had my phone for 6 months, and then the display died. When calling "customer service" you reach someone in the Philippines who is really of no assistance. When asking if you can speak with someone in the US, they say no. There is no way to reach them.

So, I was sending the phone back, as per the warranty book, but they already moved to a different location. Sent it so I could track the package.

Have called multiple times to find out when I would get my replacement, no logical responses, just lies.

On 8/23/08, I was told the replacement phone already shipped, but because it was Saturday, they could not access the tracking number, and unsure if it shipped FedEx or UPS. Called this morning, and was now told it has not shipped. Finally, after 40 minutes, got a supervisor who said it has shipped, doesn't know which provider and can't give tracking number. Asked him to contact the warehouse in the US, it is a business day, and get it for me. Told me it takes at least 4 business days. Hello - this is the information age - email takes very little time. He still insists at least 4 days.

As soon as I get the replacement phone, which I should have received before I sent back the defective one (at least that is what reputable businesses do), I will be filing complaints with the Better Business Bureau, Attorney General's office and Federal Trade Commission. Will also send a letter to my Congressional Reps to let them know, this is what NAFTA has done, outsourced our jobs, and we get no answers, no customer service.

They do NOT respond to any type of email to any address you can find, and the one phone number I did locate, was disconnected.

There are numerous complaints about this company on various web sites !!!

When I purchased a replacement phone, I made sure it was not GE, and that the warranty was not with Thomson. I very much doubt I will ever see the replacement phone, or if it will work, if I do get one.

How can a business NOT have a legitimate phone number in the US that allows you to speak with a US rep??? Other businesses that are global have the option to speak with a representative in the US - this fly by night company does not !!!!!!

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RCA Is Junk, Save Your Money And Buy Something Else

Posted by ccsd2458 on 06/12/2008

On July 25, 2006, I bought my husband a 52 inch RCA projection TV from Wal-mart. I paid $897.00 for the TV. June 1, 2008, the screen "spoiled", it did not go out, but gives a 3-D concave image. The upside is you can listen to the TV.

The day it broke, I called RCA-Thompson. These people are NOT smart!! They told me that the picture is covered under warranty for 2 years BUT parts and labor is not covered. Then what the hell do they pay for?? They gave me a phone number to a service center. I called this man who is 70 miles away. He said that it sounded like some sort of tube and the price with parts and labor should be around $200.00 and I have to take my TV to him, 70 miles one way.(70 miles one way times there and back 140 miles, plus that trip again to pick the TV up after it is fixed, 280 miles total. We have a truck that gets about 14.5 miles to the gallon, gas is $3.86 a gallon. Total for fuel about $75.00.

Today, after stewing over this for almost two weeks, I decided to call Wal-Mart and tell them what crap RCA is and that they need to pull these products from the shelves. I spoke with two very nice people at Wal-Mart who listened to me crab about my TV.

Then, I call RCA again. This lady was very hard to understand and she could not understand me, which made the conversation go south, FAST!!! I asked her for the shipping address for RCA. She asked me why I needed the address. I told her that I was going to take the TV apart and ship it there piece by piece, just to make a point!

LONG story Short, save yourself the time, energy, dollars, and stress. Buy anything other than RCA.

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Bad TV And Poor Service

Posted by SwtMystery on 12/14/2007

PAINCOURT ONTARIO CANADA -- 22 months ago we bought a new RCA HDTV 52" rear projector TV, model number D52W26.Off course it seems it never fails...now that the TV is paid in full the tv decided to break.... 2 Weeks ago my husband tried to turn the TV on by the remote, nothing happened so we have changed the batteries in the remote and still the same.... Didn't want to turn on, so when he saw that he tried to turn it on by the TV itself, again nothing and all in the sudden there was a loud sizzling noise coming out of the TV and started to smell like if something was burning..

So we unplug the TV... The next day I called RCA and was told that there is nothing they could do about it and that the warranty is only good for one year also gave us an 800 number to call. I called that 800 number and they told me to call my local Thompson repair guy. I called there and gave me another number to call, which I did and it was a company from London Ontario Canada.

The guy came to my place the same day to look at it and have found that one of the motherboard was burned.. he even showed me.Anyway while talking to him he told me that RCA knew all along that they had a glitch when the TV's were made in 2005 but there was no recall on them..... anyway they will try to get a new board but if they can't find one they will have to rebuild the one the guy brought with him... and also mentioned that there would be a warranty on the piece itself for only 90 days. It will cost around 600.00 for either the board or to have it rebuilt, he said it doesn't matter which way I look at it ..it's still the same price...

What I am wondering is do you guys thinks it's worth fixing those type of TV or what would you do at my place.Personally I am afraid that if they do get another board that same thing will happened over and over again.

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Piece of Crap/RCA 32 inch TV

Posted by beach_freak on 03/09/2006

ST AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA -- We bought two 32 in 32V432T at Wal-Mart six months ago for $250.00 each. Hers went first, turning on and off, and autoprogramming on its own. Her set is on it's second trip to a repair center. Mine started the same thing today. Power on and off by itself and starts to autoprogram by itself. What gives? These are only months old! Any suggestions on repair? What crap!

No help from RCA/Thomson, they couldn't care less now that they are selling their surplus through Wal-Mart. One is still in the shop for over a month now don't know what to do about the second one yet.

I could have bought a bigger brand new (not RCA) TV for all this money now. Don't buy this set, I was told this is a common problem with these models.

They need to recall them. I will never ever buy from RCA again. I also have a RCA/DVD player that is a piece of junk too.

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Bad TV and Customer Service No Help

Posted by TheMareTN on 10/29/2007

COLLIERVILLE, TENNESSEE -- Basically..... I bought this TV paid over $2,000 for it with financing. When I got it it made a weird noise. Called where purchased they said it was supposed to make that noise. Lamp heating up. So right after it goes out of warranty it is shutting itself off and making an even louder whirring. I call service center here and they say sounds like a lamp. Take it out and check it. Lamp looks new to me. (after all it hasn't been on that much.) So they charge me almost $100.00 to come out and then they say it sounds like the lamp but the lamp looks good. Bottom line.... lamp cost $400.00! And maybe it will work maybe not! Call RCA thinking maybe they will send me a lamp since my guess is it was defective from the start. Their great customer service? Nope..... out of warranty. There suggestion call another authorized RCA dealer (and pay another $100.00) and maybe they can locate the problem. After reading all these reviews it is apparent that RCA is producing low quality products, is aware of it and couldn't care less. They are selling on the brand name only. I will no longer own any RCA or Thompson products.

I refuse to buy from companies that do not offer customer service. I also wonder why there is not mention when you purchase a DLP TV of the fact that the lamp lasts just a year and costs $400.00! What a racket!

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Bad Product and Customer Service

Posted by Ddoreen on 06/25/2007

CALIFORNIA -- You be the judge and I hope you read this Before you purchase RCA. We bought a 50: HDYV DLP in March of 2006, by May of 2007 it started making funny noises. In October we were told by the customer service department to replace the bulb, which we did. Didn't fix the problem. In November the authorized service center came and took the set to his shop. By January the set was deemed non-repairable. We were promised a replacement TV and are still waiting, it is now June 2007. Yes, that is right, over eight months and no resolution. And in all that time Thompson has only called us one time. Of course we have made countless calls them, at least once a week. Each time we are lied to and given another speech. The one phone call we received was in April telling me that when I sent them my receipt, they would complete the transfer of a replacement TV. Well, to date still no TV and another run around.

So, you be the judge would you buy RCA? Not if you are smart...
So, the end of the story - August, 10 months later we finally got a new TV. I had filed a report with the Better Business B. and RCA called me regarding my claim. The BBB did their job and I got some attention from RCA. They did replace my TV, but I am still stuck with an RCA.

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Defective TV

Posted by dade on 04/19/2007

CHICO, CALIFORNIA -- We have an RCA 52" TV and it has nothing but problems. The TV came to my with problems, first of all the screen had water spots in the inside and the TV also had an eighth of inch gap on both top corner about two inches long. I have spoke to the customer service rep. they told me they will exchange the TV but when I call them this week they said they got to check with the service center who put the screen in. The service center was the one that suggested that I Put tape around the TV to keep the dust from entering through the gap of the TV but that look tacky and I'm tried getting the around I just one my refund 1349 because each TV you brought me have nothing but problems and take 2 month before you fix it and still isn't right, under California consumer electronic affair act the TV should had been exchanged or offered a refund for the original unit which was purchase at Best Buy 11-19-06.

Damon

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RCA 19" TV

Posted by PEEDoff on 06/19/2006

I also purchased a RCA 19" Flat Screen TV set in Nov. 05. The bottom left of the screen is discolored. Approximately a 5" x 5" section. I have tried to get in touch w/ RCA and have not been able to find a number to get in touch w/ anyone. I tried emailing through their website and have not heard back from anyone in two weeks. Under 1 year old - I really expected much better as I have two off brands in my house that are 5 yrs + old and are in perfect working order.